My first bike had wood rims. I was about 6 and that was some 58 years ago. They must have been fairly common then as my folks didn't have much money. I remember losing control once and smashing into a curb at pretty high speed. It was tramatic or I wouldn't remember it now. Didn't phase the wheel. I remember feeling relief that I wouldn't have to tell the folks that I broke the new bike. When I was 10, about 1950, my parents took me to their homeland (France) for a couple of months. They bought me a French bike with 5 rear cogs and a deraileur. It could have been the first in the US for all I know. I was the rage in east Connecticut since no one had ever seen one before and I could outrun everybody, especially on the hills.

Al